Tangled Up In You
by epic_fan_spasms is an ongoing Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction published on Archive of Our Own.
Marinette and the gang have a group project for history, which they work on at Alya's house. Situations change and it becomes a four-person sleepover. Accidental slut-shaming occurs, and dick jokes abound. Marinette and Adrien are embarrassed to within an inch of their lives, and Alya wonders if her plan to get them together will finally bear fruit.
Tangled Up In You contains examples of:
- Acting Unnatural: After Marinette tells Alya and Nino about her attempt to get Adrien embarrassed, she tells them "I think he's coming. Act natural." The two resume making out on the couch next to her, which works, insofar as it convinces Adrien she didn't tell them anything.
- Almost Kiss: A couple of times between Adrien and Marinette.
- Beautiful Dreamer: A fairly brief example, when Marinette notes that Adrien is "so adorable when he's asleep" but lies down to sleep herself soon after, not really lingering on him.
- Blanket Fort: Marinette teaches Adrien to build one during the sleepover in her room.
- Broken Pedestal: A positive case where Adrien's dorky side makes him less intimidating to Marinette, which allows her to be more confident about pursuing him romantically.
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Both Adrien and Marinette praise their alter egos' attractiveness at various points.
- Comforting Comforter: After Adrien falls asleep in Marinette's room, she pulls a blanket over him before lying down herself.
- Crush Blush: Marinette, constantly. It gets to the point where Adrien jokes that pink looks good on her, and she replies that she's practicing to go as a blushing person for Halloween. Adrien himself blushes a few times when his "polka dot kink" is brought up, but also in response to his developing feelings for Marinette as the story goes on.
- Cuddle Bug: Adrien, both times he wakes up with Marinette. He blames it on the fact that he sleeps with a body pillow at home.
- Curse Cut Short: A self-interruption when Adrien's playing "Fuck, Marry, Kill". He can't bring himself to say it, but this time he at least gets the "F" out before amending it to "have sex with Marinette."
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: When Adrien enters Marinette's room, he comments that he still can't believe how pink it is, not realising he said it aloud until she replies.
- Elephant in the Living Room: Referenced in one of Adrien's jokes: "I bought my friend an elephant for their room. They said thanks. (Beat) I said don't mention it."
- Even the Girls Want Her: Alya makes numerous references to having the same "polka dot kink" as Adrien, stating that most of Paris has one by now. Marinette backs her up later in a game of "Fuck, Marry, Kill".
- Even the Guys Want Him: Elsewhere, Adrien says that he'd probably do Chat given the opportunity: "He's just so muscular and handsome."
- Friendly Tickle Torture: Adrien does this to Marinette after the Sleep Cute scene below, and again when he gets her to admit to the "Duvet really?" joke she just made.
- Gosh Dang It to Heck!: A Running Gag with Adrien, who not only repeatedly scolds Alya on her casual swearing ("Language!"), he resorts to euphemisms such as "Holy shoot", "Fudge", and "H-E-double hockey sticks". And when Alya and Nino try to encourage him to curse like a normal teenager, he says "Shit," only to amend it to "Shiitake mushrooms" after a moment.Alya: Adrien, repeat after me. Holy shit. Fuck.Adrien: Holy sh-shih tzu. Funk.Alya: You really are a hopeless case.Adrien: Hey, I don't need to curse to be cool!
- Holding Hands: Marinette manipulates Adrien into this on the way to the Agreste mansion by pretending to have lost one of her mittens, though he goes a step further than she expected and puts both their hands in his coat pocket. Later, Adrien gets her to agree to let him carry one of her bags from the fabric store by saying that, for their own safety, they should hold hands so they don't fall over in the snow.
- Hypocritical Humour: Marinette mocks Adrien for his character in an MMORPG called Mystic Story, a red and black-dressed mage called Monsieur Ladybug. Her own character, dressed in black and green, is named Cat-whisperer.
- I Know Mortal Kombat: An amusing inversion when Adrien and Marinette, playing an MMORPG called Mystic Story together, deal with a dragon boss exactly like they would as Ladybug and Chat Noir.
- Implausible Deniability: After Adrien's "elephant in the room" joke:Marinette: That's horrible.Adrien: Your smile tells a different story.Marinette: I'm not smiling. (she is totally smiling)Adrien: (smirks) She says while smiling.Marinette: Shut up.
- In Which a Trope Is Described: Each of the chapter headings, some of them rather misleading out of context, such as "In Which Someone Gets Marinette Very Wet" (by convincing her to jump into a swimming pool.)
- Lame Pun Reaction: Adrien's jokes frequently induce groaning, even from those who like them.
- Loves My Alter Ego: Early in the story, Marinette learns about Adrien's "Polka dot kink", and, unusually for the trope, is rather elated to realise that he likes Ladybug, and therefore her by extension.
- Moment Killer: One of Adrien and Marinette's Almost Kisses is interrupted by a nearby Snowball Fight, which the two join in.
- My Instincts Are Showing: Adrien's cat tendencies show up when Marinette catches him in a fabric store nuzzling a bolt of purple fleece and purring, though she doesn't make the connection. Marinette also curses her Ladybug side for making her more sensitive to the cold weather, even when wearing a thick coat.
- Not So Above It All: Despite her stated disdain for Adrien's bed related puns (and puns in general), Marinette lets slip "Oh, Duvet really?" under her breath at one point. Adrien is overjoyed when he hears it, telling her that he knew she had it in her.
- Not What It Looks Like: Sabine catches Marinette and Adrien in a compromising position on the floor, after Marinette accidentally knocks Adrien backwards off his chair while trying to steal his phone (again). Sabine is more amused than anything else, calmly telling them when dinner will be ready.
- Relationship Upgrade: While playing Truth or Dare, Marinette asks Nino to define his relationship with Alya, as well as say what he wants it to be. Nino uses this push to ask Alya to be his girlfriend and make it official. She accepts, prompting an overly long Big Damn Kiss.
- Screw Yourself: A variant when the group play "Fuck, Marry, Kill" and Marinette is offered Ladybug. Understandable given that the other options were old enough to be her father. Elsewhere, Adrien states that he'd probably do Chat Noir given the opportunity.
- Seinfeldian Conversation: An argument about giraffe scarves. We don't see how it started, but:Nino: That's ridiculous! A giraffe scarf would obviously have to cover the entire neck. You couldn't just slap a human scarf on it, it would hardly cover anything and would just look silly!Alya: Oh, and a super long scarf wrapped from head to torso wouldn't?Marinette: And that's why I was thinking that it makes more sense to make it a tube. Then if you add ties at either end you can adjust it so that it stays on and covers the whole thing.Nino: See, THAT is what I'm talking about! That makes infinitely more sense than just one long strip of fabric, and can be both fashionable and functional. You will go far in the world of giraffe scarves, girl.Marinette: Thanks, I think.Adrien: Okay, but I think we can all agree what the real question is here. What pattern would the scarf have? Like, would it be giraffe patterned to blend in, a solid color, or something different?Alya: I think they should be offered in a wide variety of patterns. Giraffe should definitely be one, but how fucking funny would it be to see a giraffe wearing a cheetah or zebra print scarf?Marinette and Adrien: Language!
- Shipper on Deck: Alya planned the sleepover to get Adrien and Marinette together, with Nino's support. Tom and Sabine as well, who have a bet on how long it will take.
- Shirtless Scene: When Marinette is about to take Adrien's measurements for a Ladybug onesie, he takes his shirt off before she tells him that he doesn't need to strip for this. He apologises and explains that it's a habit he's picked up from his photoshoots.
- Shout-Out: Numerous references to Disney movies: Marinette and Adrien watch Tangled at Alya's house, and Adrien watches Mulan and Mulan II in Marinette's room while she works on his Ladybug onesie. Also, following the "elephant in the room" joke and the Implausible Deniability bit above:Adrien: You know you love me.Marinette: Do I? (Yes, I do.)
- Sleep Cute: Marinette and Adrien fall asleep on Alya's couch while watching Tangled under a blanket, and end up waking up with Marinette's head on Adrien's chest and his arms around her. While Marinette is initially mortified by this, after Adrien calms her down and asks for the blanket back, she boldly resumes her position on him, reminding him that they agreed to share it.
- Happens again in Chapter 6: Marinette wakes up with a still sleeping Adrien cuddling her from behind. When he wakes up, he apologises and admits that he's used to sleeping with a body pillow.
- Snowed-In: After Adrien has dinner at Marinette's house, they convince him to stay the night, since, while they're not actually trapped, the snowstorm would make it dangerous for anyone coming to get him.
- So Unfunny, It's Funny: Adrien's jokes, like his Elephant in the Living Room one that has Marinette smiling in spite of herself.
- The Talk: After telling Adrien he can spend the night, Sabine reminds Marinette that she's not on birth control and should control herself tonight, much to her embarrassment.
- That Came Out Wrong: The aforementioned "accidental slut-shaming":Adrien: This is actually my first time having a sleepover with anyone other than Nino.Marinette: Yeah. I mean, I've had sleepovers with people besides Alya, but this is definitely my first time having one with guys.Adrien: Oh? I would've figured for sure that a popular girl like you had had sleepovers with just about everyone.(Long Beat as Marinette, well aware of Adrien's social cluelessness, tries to think of the best way to explain the implications of what he just said.)Adrien: Umm, Mari? I didn't say anything weird did I? Sorry, it's just, you started blushing suddenly but I wasn't sure if it was something I said or not.Marinette: No, well, I mean yes, but it's okay. I figured you probably didn't even realize what you said. (Adrien shakes his head. Marinette blushes again and continues trying to figure out how to explain this. She turns back to him and clears her throat) Okay, basically, boys and girls don't really have sleepovers together, except maybe sometimes when they're little kids. So, like, a boy and a girl having a sleepover at our age, for example, kind of implies that they're doing something, if you catch my drift. (Adrien does not catch her drift. Marinette sighs, grabs his shoulders and looks him in the eyes) Listen carefully, because I'm sure I can only manage to say this once without combusting. When a boy and a girl have a sleepover, it's usually because they want to have sex. So, what you said about me being popular and having sleepovers with everyone basically implies that you think that I-Adrien (turns "what was probably a yet-undiscovered shade of red") Oh my gosh I'm so, so sorry!
- Waxing Lyrical: When Adrien talks about how he feels like he wears a mask in his daily life because he's expected to uphold his family's image, Marinette replies, "That's not fair. You shouldn't be restricted like that. Life is a mix of winning, jumping, running, and relaxing. You can be whoever you are." She then admits that she stole that from a song by a Taiwanese pop group called Men Envy Children, who she's been listening to to improve her Chinese.
